Can A Mom Even Shower Alone?!

And, behind curtain number one...

we have...

a peeping Graham!

He is pulling himself up. He likes to come and open the curtain and throw things in whenever someone is in the shower.

Since you are all wondering, Carols' nose is fine... thank goodness. The morning after the attack we saw him at school, and when he saw us arrive he ran up to Ethan and patted him on the shoulder saying, "I forgive you Ethan. You're just a little guy and you didn't mean to hurt me."

I was floored, humbled, amazed, and completely in awe of this little five year old. I could only hope my children would respond this way. Thus far I have only seen screams and retaliation when one gets hurt. I told Zach that Carlos is such a good friend and the type of kid he should always be friends with. I believe some spirits just come that way, but he also comes from a good home with wonderful parents. I have learned that, yes, parents have an influence on their children, but a child's behavior is NOT always a reflection of their upbringing.

Blood Bath

It's been a bloodbath around here. Two and a half weeks ago Graham bit me while nursing like I have never been bit before. He drew blood and left two tiny teeth marks. I thought after the scream of pain I let out he would never try THAT again but proceeded to do it on the other side, although not as bad. I almost gave up nursing on the spot. I am still healing.

Then this week Ethan was caught making potions in the bathtub with the cherry hand soap.

He called it his BLOOD BATH.

And lastly, today Zach invited over one of the sweetest boys we know after school. As I was hanging up the phone with his mother, I heard a scream and crying from someone that was not my kid.

I went running down the hall to see sweet Carlos crying, holding his nose and blood POURING out of him. Apparently Ethan had hit him with a toy. He did not intend to maim him, but was just too rough, as he often is. Blood was dripping everywhere, as it does with nose injuries, so I quickly sent Ethan to his room, set Graham down, and took Carlos to the kitchen for some towels. It was there that I began to think this was more than a nose bleed. I won't go into graphic detail but I think the nose may be broken.

While trying to help Carlos I called Chris on speaker phone to get home ASAP because Graham was hysterical, Ethan frantic, and Zach was running around screaming, "I've never seen so much blood before!" I just needed an extra pair of adult hands and quickly. The poor guy has never ridden home so hard in his life because all he heard was, "HOME NOW, BLOOD!" and chaos in the back ground.

How do you say sorry adequately to a mother when your 3.5 year old unintentionally disfigures their child's face?

By the time I got Carlos home the bleeding had stopped and the swelling had begun. His mother was not upset (she has two boys) and Carlos' biggest concern was that he wouldn't be invited over again.

Bedtime Battles

Does this sound familiar?

In a whiny voice:

Just one more story... pleeeaaaseee!

I need a drink. No, you'll wet the bed. But I'm so thirsty I'll die!

There's too much light.

There's not enough light.

Where's my teddy?

I just need to go potty one more time.

I'm NOT tired!

I hear something creepy outside.

He keeps talking, I can't sleep.

He won't get out of my bed.

Mom, just one more thing...

I don't want to miss Letterman!

Okay, maybe not the last one, but these are the usual bedtime battles we have-- as well as the completely-coming-out-of-the-room. If they dare do it three times my angry mom comes out.

That is until we put them on their school schedule of being up at 6:30AM and go, go, go until the blessed hour of 7:30pm... one of my favorite times of the day. Chris and I actually have a bit of an evening now. 

The night before school started we had a battle of another kind: lightsaber vs. Nerf gun.

This went on for about 20 minutes... and Chris couldn't understand why they didn't want to go to bed.

1 Down 2 To Go

I don't know who has been more excited about Zach starting school, he or I. When anyone would ask what he was most excited about he always responded MATH! I'm not sure why, because I'm numerically challenged, but Chris is, well, an engineer. I have a feeling Zach is going to do very well in school academically.

One who is not excited about all this...

is Zach's shadow Ethan.

It will be interesting to see who Ethan befriends in playgroups because he has always played with Zach

and his friends, or at least tried to.

Zach insisted on wearing his new favorite shirt of a Lego skater. He got it three days ago and I had to sneak it away to wash it for the big day.

We all headed off for the long (three minute) walk to school. Although the school is just across the street, the entrance isn't. Then we had to wait for the security guards to let everyone in.

All the nervous Kindergartners huddled up and watched as the big kids lined up before entering into the school.

A few last minute words of encouragement from Dad.

And then Ethan broke away from me to do this...

At first everyone thought Ethan was trying to line up with the big kids but he just had to give one last hug goodbye to his best friend.

Exploration....At A Price

No, his horns aren't sprouting... he's just been exploring. The one on his right side is when he found the bed frame hidden behind the bed skirt. The one on the left is from when he tested the durability of a porcelain toilet.

Graham is ten months. He thinks all bottom draws must be inspected... repeatedly. He loves anything with a hinge that opens and shuts. After several rounds of pinched fingers, I've had to be creative and ensure drawers don't shut completely. Oh, and the dropping game is ever so much fun.

Yesterday was one of those happy...

to sad...

to really sad in seconds days. He was like this most of the day and we're not sure why. New teeth? Bad milk? Mint Milanos were on the 50% off shelf (near expiration) at the commissary so I've been indulging. In the past he has not liked it when I eat dark chocolate.

Whenever Graham gets close to something he shouldn't (Legos, paper, anything the boys have constructed) they start yelling RED ALERT, RED ALERT and then Ethan takes it upon himself to remove Graham from the situation. Sometimes it's helpful and sometimes it's downright more dangerous than the initial problem.

Today when the boys heard Graham awake in his room they jumped in his bed and started jumping around singing, "You're the cutest baby around! You're the cutest baby around!" Chris and I agree, 100%.

Decorating Disappointment

Zach and Ethan spent the other afternoon decorating the outside of the house.

It was HOT, but by this time of the day the porch was in the shadows. They made posters, invitations, and games for Ethan's birthday. Anytime someone would walk by they would run out and invite them to the party. Ethan really wants to celebrate his birthday but it isn't until November.

While the boys were outside decorating I was inside doing a bit of decorating of my own. I wanted something bold on this huge wall. When I saw these vinyl wall decals at IKEA I thought they would look great. I have used Uppercase Living vinyl wall words with great success in other parts of the house...

but these are peeling and falling off my wall as I write this. The humidity that just rolled in and the wall texture make for a bad combination. A complete decorating disappointment. Oh well, I just laugh each time the boys bring me another sticker. One fell on Graham yesterday and he became totally frustrated trying to unstick himself.

Update

Happy Graham is back and sleeping through the night. The boys are on a new sleeping schedule for school. Now we have breakfast with DAD in the morning. So long, peaceful scripture study over breakfast!

THE MOUSE IS GONE! I had pest control leave me a stack of those sticky traps. I went nutso all over my kitchen with them last night and it was caught within an hour. Mice do not scare me, but I just want to vomit when I think about it running on my counters.